


The Cook

by supernaturallylost



Series: Rehabilitation [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grocery Shopping, Hungry Castiel, M/M, Mentions of Starvation, Protective Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 21:05:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3784279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernaturallylost/pseuds/supernaturallylost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean takes a near stranger to the grocery store to find something to eat. Cas, meanwhile, is too proud to graciously accept Dean's generosity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cook

“So what’s your favorite food?”

Cas twirled his red rose in his hands absently.

“Cas?” Dean smiled. Cas looked up with exhaustion heavy in his eyes.

With a sigh, Dean held out his hand. He gestured for Cas to put his hand under it, as if he was going to drop something into Cas’ hand. Assuming that Dean would gift him money for a meal before leaving, Cas blushed before laying his hand down below Dean’s. With a sly grin, Dean opened his hand to reveal nothing. Then he quickly slid his fingers between Cas’ and held his hand.

“Favorite food?” Dean asked with an air of triumph.

“Oh,” Cas startled, feeling Dean’s grip on his hand. Cas blushed even redder than before. “I like peanut butter and jam sandwiches…”

Dean’s brow furrowed.

“Well, I guess we can go to the store and buy some for you,” he said suspiciously. In his gut, he felt that Cas might not have had very many types of food recently. In fact, now that he looked down to his stomach, Dean could see how thin he was. Dean bit his lip to keep from asking when Cas had last eaten. “Do you want to go shopping?”

Cas’ nose wriggled and his left hand gripped the rose harder. His discomfort was clear enough, to the point that Dean stopped walking, clasped Cas’ hand with both of his, and spoke softly.

“It’s okay, Cas,” he said. “We’re just getting you something to eat. Is that so scary for you?”

Although his voice cracked several times, Dean waited until Cas could finish his sentence.

“I just don’t know when I’ll be able to repay you.”

Dean’s jaw clenched. With the realization that his date would always see the meal as a debt to be repaid came a sly solution.

“I’ll tell you what,” Dean smiled, still speaking quietly and rubbing circles around Cas’ thumb. “I’ll pay for the meal and we’ll go cook it at my house. We can eat with my kid brother, Sam. Then, when we’re done eating, you can do the dishes. Will that make you feel better?”

Reluctantly, Cas nodded.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m… between work right now.”

Dean smiled. “Luckily for me, that gives you plenty of time to date.”

A breathy laugh was the response.

When they reached the grocery store, Dean’s mind raced. He wondered what he could make that would go easy on Cas’s stomach. Keeping in mind that it had probably been a while since Cas had last eaten, Dean quickly thought of and discarded several ideas before landing on something simple, but with substance.

“We’re gonna need a couple,” Dean started. When he turned unsuspectingly to Cas, he saw the latter’s mouth open and his tongue licking his chapped lower lip. Dean finished his sentence with a weak, “ingredients.”

Dean immediately stepped to the closest refrigerated unit by the registers and grabbed a cold water bottle. He opened it and held it out to Cas, who looked absolutely horrified.

“Dean,” he whispered fearfully.

“Relax,” Dean almost laughed. “We’ll pay for it at the end. I’m going to grab a cart; you drink this. Drink it slowly, Cas.”

Hesitantly, Cas accepted the drink and sipped from it. Soon, his tentative sips turned into greedy slurps. By the time Dean returned with a shopping cart, Cas was halfway through the water bottle.

“Woah!” Dean shouted. He reached out and grabbed Cas’s wrist to bring the water down. “Slowly, Cas, or you’ll upset your stomach.”

Cas breathed unevenly and nodded.

“Sorry,” he said, replacing the cap on the bottle.

“Can you push the cart?” Dean asked. When Cas nodded, he moved out of the way and began to walk down the produce section.

Eventually, they reached the checkout lane with a cart full of assorted fresh vegetables, some potatoes, ground beef, a whole apple pie, and a few organic granola bars. Dean placed the items, along with the empty water bottle and a second half empty bottle, on the conveyor. When the items began ringing up on the screen, Dean bit his lip and glanced at Cas. As he suspected, Cas was staring at the total price rising.

“Hey Cas?” Dean said suddenly. “Can you do me a favor?”

Cas snapped his attention away from the monitor and looked at Dean.

“Can you go get some flowers at that floral section we passed earlier? I know it’s not very romantic to get you to do it, but we need something for the table when we eat.”

Cas bit his lip.

“Here,” Dean smiled. He handed Cas twenty dollars. “Pick out the best flowers, okay? You can meet me at the doors when you’re done.”

“Okay,” Cas nodded. He walked away sadly and Dean smiled at the cashier as the total ran over fifty dollars.

Dean finished before Cas, but not by much, He barely had time to shove the receipt into his wallet before Cas returned with a bouquet of tiger lilies.

“Good choice,” Dean smiled. He shoved all of his bags into one hand. “Shall we?”

With his hand outstretched, Dean waited for Cas’s to slide in place. Instead, Cas subtly replaced the change from his transaction into Dean’s palm. Dean frowned at first, but tried to smile when he noticed Cas watching him.

“Let’s go home and make some food,” he said softly. Cas held his rose and the lilies tightly in hand for the entire walk back to Dean’s home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you have comments, I'd love to hear them!


End file.
